Chinese tea chain Heytea spawned an insane two-hour-long queue when it opened last month at Ion Orchard, all for its cheese foam-topped fruit teas. They are apparently the first brand in the world to offer cheese teas, but their drinks are mostly served without pearls as the Heytea folks reckon their fruit teas are “best tasted naked”.

But if you prefer your drink with some chewy pearls, Heytea is launching their first bobo tea series this Wednesday (December 12). Bobo is a Chinese slang term for ‘pearls’. There are two flavours available: Brûlée Bobo Tea ($4.50) and Oreo Bobo Tea ($4.80). You can choose from a base of either Cow Head fresh milk or red milk tea for your drink, and customise the sweetness level as well as the amount of pearls. You can also buy additional toppings like Bobo Pops (crunchy white pearls, $0.60), Brown Sugar Bobo ($0.70), crushed Oreos ($0.90) and Brown Sugar Milk-sicles (milk pudding cubes, $0.90) for your bobo tea.

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Brûlée Bobo Tea, $4.50

This is Heytea’s version of the brown sugar pearl milk drink that’s all the rage now. A dollop of tapioca pearls slow-cooked in brown sugar is added to your choice of fresh milk or milk tea, and the drink is topped off with a layer of brown sugar crème brûlée that’s seared to a caramelised finish upon order and sprinkled with more brown sugar. If you want extra crème brûlée in your drink, simply request for a free top-up. Heytea recommends drinking your Brûlée Bobo Tea by tasting the top layer of crème brûlée with the small spoon provided, and then mixing the pearls and brown sugar with the straw before sipping.

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Oreo Bobo Tea, $4.80

Think of this as brown sugar milk loaded with brown sugar pearls and a layer of crushed Oreos. It sounds much sweeter to us than the Brûlée Bobo Tea ’cos of the chocolate cookies — we reckon this one’s for the folks with extra calories to burn.

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Lobang alert

The bobo teas will be available from December 12, and it’s buy one get one free on that day. If you can’t make it down to Ion Orchard this Wednesday, Heytea also has a promotion mechanic for you to score some free bobo tea. They are giving away 200 cups of bobo tea this Saturday and Sunday (that’s 100 cups per day on December 15 and 16, 2pm-6pm) to people spotted wearing polka dots near their Bobo Truck outside Ion Orchard, so it's time to dig out your dotty tee.